ST. PETE RAIDERS

Bringing Soccer to Pinellas County Families Since 1970

Roughly 18 months ago it was with great excitement that we entered into our agreement with Vision Pro Sports Institute (VSI). The United Soccer Leagues (USL), the Brandon Flames and other prominent entities were also drawn to VSI’s ambitious plans for a pro league, a stadium, and a strong feeder network of youth soccer clubs. However, as time went on, it became clear that things were not going as planned. As a club, we try to offer our players an avenue to achieve their dreams of moving to the next level of soccer. We’ve gone the Everton route, then the VSI route. At the time, it seemed the correct path, but we are realistic enough to know when a direction is not the right one.

We have decided to sever our ties with VSI and return to our roots.

Starting with the 2014-15 season, our club players will be the St Pete Raiders and our recreational players will be the Northeast Raiders. Those names were synonymous with good soccer for 30 years and are well known in our community. It is time to clarify our identity and reaffirm our ultimate goal – play great soccer while teaching strong values.

We will be wearing the red and blue of the traditional Raiders uniform and revert to the old badge. We will soon begin the rebranding to the “St Pete” mark with a full changeover by May. We will keep you posted as we move forward with the change.